Do teachers spend more time on actual teaching and learning in a typical lesson compared to previous years? Do they feel prepared to teach when they start teaching? What sort of continuous professional development programmes do they participate in and how does it impact their practice? This report looks first at how teachers apply their knowledge…

This publication provides a comprehensive analysis of the most important issues facing teachers during the early stages of their careers. The effectiveness of teachers fresh to the profession is an important policy issue, especially knowing the impact that teachers have on student learning. The OECD's Teaching and Learning International Survey…

This country review offers an independent analysis of major issues facing the use of school resources in Portugal from an international perspective. It provides a description of national policies, an analysis of strengths and challenges and options for possible future approaches. The analysis focuses on the process of decentralisation of school…

Much attention has been paid to the increasing proportion of non-tenure-track faculty--adjuncts, lecturers, and others--in American higher education. Critics charge that universities exploit "contingent faculty" and graduate students, engaging in a type of bait and switch to attract applicants (advertising institutional standing based on…

This groundbreaking work examines teacher quality, work norms, and professional learning opportunities, using data from 15 countries. The authors compare and contrast the United States with two high-achieving countries--Japan and Australia--that have implemented very different approaches to improving teacher quality. Drawing on both large…

This book examines the effects of reforms in some countries' national education systems, noting that far from improving education, they have often made it more difficult for teachers to do a good job in the classroom. It focuses on how teaching has changed and continues to change in England's educational reform climate. The book argues that many…

This book examines what can be learned from veteran teachers who not only continue to teach but also manage to remain enthusiastic about it despite deprivation and challenges. Nine chapters are: (1) "Teaching as Evolution" (e.g., lessons learned along the way and the promise of multicultural education); (2) "Teaching as…

This book presents an assessment of collective bargaining in education. During the 1970's, while student enrollment declined, organizations representing public school teachers grew. Both the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers more than doubled their membership. Teacher contracts have expanded to include areas…

Urging new directions for American high school education, this book outlines problems with contemporary high schools and describes the experience of small high schools (those having approximately 200 students), designed in the past 15 years, that have developed excellent and diverse alternative programs within the constraints of existing district…